The germs of dictatorship come swarming back

A bunch of plunderers moves to assume unlimited regressive power

As if the midnight assaults on PEMRA and NADRA did not generate enough vicarious satisfaction, the prime minister’s guns blazed yet again, this time demolishing the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and its entire structure. It is also part of our humiliating history that, after assuming the office of the chief executive of the country, the prime minister had arrogated to himself the charge of being the chief patron of the PCB, a title which had traditionally resided with the head of the state.

The story goes beyond just another undemocratic assault on the independence of institutions and stopping them from rendering their functions in a transparent manner. The stakes were high in the cases of PEMRA and NADRA. The same may be even higher in the case of the PCB. Already, Imran Khan and his party have gone public with the accusation that the person made the chairman of the PCB has been rewarded for ‘thirty-five punctures’ that he was instrumental in inflicting during the course of the last general elections when he was the interim chief minister of Punjab. The Sharifs are notorious for rewarding their cronies, their Mamnoon Hussains, by hoisting them to positions of importance so that they would continue serving the rulers’ interests. Same appears to be the matter in the curious case of the PCB where one such person, who had allegedly played a devious role in the PML-N electoral victory in Punjab, needed to be rewarded.

News have also surfaced that the government has allegedly decided to take away the prerogative of the appointment of judges to superior judiciary from the judicial commission and make the parliamentary committee all-powerful in the name of the supremacy of the parliament. More appropriately, it should be construed as another undemocratic step to denude the Judicial Commission of any decision-making powers with regard to the appointment of judges and authorise the prime minister to designate his munshis in the judiciary to do his bidding. It is another blatant case of rendering all pillars of the state subservient to the whims of an individual. This reflects a mindset that refuses to abide by the rule of law and is bent on persisting with people of the ilk of Shujaat Azim who had resigned when the case of his controversial appointment for multiple reasons including his court martial from the Air Force, his dual nationality and the inherent conflict of interest as one of his companies had direct financial stakes in the working of the national airline that he was to control, had been referred to the Supreme Court and his ouster seemed imminent. The same person has now been inducted at the same position, albeit with a different designation.

Only recently I met a dear old friend, a stalwart and an inveterate activist for judicial independence and human rights in the country. I was surprised to hear him say that this time around, if the military takes over, he would not protest. I provoked him: “Would you welcome the military take-over”? He backed off saying that he, possibly, would not do that. The question is how long will it take for all such people to move from raising their voice for democracy and rule of law to welcoming the military take-over, even advocating for it? Unfortunately, such is the intermediary period that we appear to be passing through at this critical stage.

This also reflects the tragedy that defines the leadership that has manoeuvred the opportunity of ruling the country by employing fraudulent and decrepit means including the use of the official machinery and personnel, even the ones at the highest positions of power. The complicity to advance the evil designs of these power-hungry marauders, who have looted the country through decades, and who have no plans to give up on their voracious appetite, is widespread. Everyone involved in this disdainful racket has a price and they receive it many times over.

This also reflects the tragedy that defines the leadership that has manoeuvred the opportunity of ruling the country by employing fraudulent and decrepit means including the use of the official machinery and personnel, even the ones at the highest positions of power. The complicity to advance the evil designs of these power-hungry marauders, who have looted the country through decades, and who have no plans to give up on their voracious appetite, is widespread. Everyone involved in this disdainful racket has a price and they receive it many times over. It looks like that these partners-in-crime would see to the demise of the country to decamp to foreign lands of their choice where they have been saving their illicit wealth for years, even decades.

Is there no end in sight? Will there be no end to this all-consuming greed?

The country is burning without respite, yet the charade of talks with the criminal militant groups is continuing. There are even statements from the government of considerable progress having been made in these talks. This is in spite to a list of fifteen demands that the militants have publicised for talks to proceed further including an end to the drone attacks, introduction of the Islamic system in educational institutions, introduction of Sharia law in the courts, restoration and remuneration for damage to property during drone attacks, release of Pakistani and foreign Taliban detained in (Pakistani) prisons, shift of control of the tribal areas to local forces, withdrawal of all criminal allegations against the Taliban, withdrawal of army from the tribal areas and closing down of the check posts there, release of prisoners from both sides, jobs for victims of the drone attacks, equal rights for all including the poor and the rich, detachment from the US war on terror, abolition of the interest-based system in the country, open clemency for all Taliban commanders and replacement of the democratic system with the Islamic system.

Is the government in denial of these demands? Is this the ploy that it is using to buy time to impose the Sharia in the country that would elevate the incumbent prime minister to the status of the Amir ul Momeneen – a cherished dream that he has been trying to fulfil for over fifteen years now? The only thing that he does not realise is that, by changing his constituency to the militants of the country, he would not be able to win the legitimacy that is required for him to be accepted as their leader. There are innumerable others who have long laid claim on that coveted spot and who are more qualified to measure up to the benchmarks of such a title, reflecting the ultimate in regression, than he would ever be.

The country continues to resonate with explosions and killings on a daily basis. There have been attacks right across the national expanse, from Peshawar to Karachi. People have been brutally butchered. Quite expectedly, the apologists have pinned the blame on those who want to sabotage the peace talks. The government is not willing to tell who these alleged saboteurs are, but is adamant that they don’t belong to the militant factions that it is negotiating with. That opens up the proverbial can of worms. Who are these militant factions the government is engaged in negotiations with and who are the alleged saboteurs who continue on the war path? And, if and when the so-called ongoing negotiations with some of these criminal militant groups come to a conclusion, how many saboteur groups that would continue fighting? If the government opts to combat these, will it be done together with the militant groups that have been won over by then? And, most important of all, what would be the price paid to these militant groups in terms of surrendering Pakistan’s sovereignty and writ and the future of its people?

This also reflects the tragedy that defines the leadership that has manoeuvred the opportunity of ruling the country by employing fraudulent and decrepit means including the use of the official machinery and personnel, even the ones at the highest positions of power. The complicity to advance the evil designs of these power-hungry marauders, who have looted the country through decades, and who have no plans to give up on their voracious appetite, is widespread. Everyone involved in this disdainful racket has a price and they receive it many times over.

These and many more questions rattle the brain as the government continues to show increasing signs of weakness in the face of unremitting militant attacks resulting in countless deaths on a daily basis. There have even been reports of the alleged threat to the Kalash tribe that they should convert to Islam or face death. In a video released on their website, the militants have warned: “We want to make it clear to the Kalash tribe that they will be eliminated along with their protectors, the Western agents, if they don’t embrace Islam”. The international NGOs have also been singled out creating an “Israel-like” state in Chitral by attempting to protect the Kalash culture.

The Ismailis have also been accused of running schools, colleges and hostels where young men and women are given free education and brainwashed to take them away from Islam. The statement also accuses that the schools and hospitals run by the Aga Khan Foundation, which are free for members of the public, are “espionage tools in the hands of foreign powers”.

Meanwhile, the Taliban spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid told Newsweek that “our war is not restricted to Kayani or Pasha. Our frontline enemy is the Pakistan Army and its main characters. So, if we get an opportunity to target, we’ll attack”.

These multifarious threats outline the contours of a new Pakistan that Nawaz Sharif is trying to shape in conjunction with the militants of all hues and colours. The objective is to compromise the writ of the state to a point where ‘surrendering’ before the militant onslaught would be projected as the only option. In the process, the institutions of the state that the prime minister lives in perpetual fear of, the army and the judiciary, would also be defanged and rendered subservient to the over-riding will of one man – the Amir ul Momeneen, Dr. Nawaz Sharif.

The prime minister could not realise his dream through the 15^th amendment. But he could not get over the ardent ambition either. He has now opted for a more circuitous route that goes through the heartland of the Taliban and their avowed militant culture. This spells the ascendency of the writ of an individual over the voice of all state institutions combined. It aims at eliminating all possible centres of opposition to the imposition of the militant writ and their way of life that no one would be able to challenge. All avenues for doing so would be obliterated. The other state institutions would be forced to bow before the grandiose manifestations of an over-lording ruler who would not tolerate even the slightest ripples of opposition to his throne.

Scary but real-time fears! It is so quiet. The only sound that is heard is that of the bombings and the bullets fired to kill by the militants. Few have the courage to speak out against the continuing outrage. I asked the same gentleman, who had vowed not to oppose the taking over by the army this time around, about the reasons for this debilitating silence “May be we are tired”, he said. May be, we really are.